Song of Roland Death Quotes

You'd think that war and sorrow and the anxieties of statecraft would have wrinkled this old man, but Charlemagne is still going strong at 200 years old. Could his godliness and close contact with the angels be the reason?

If anyone else said this, it would be an example of fun exaggeration. But Roland, armed with Durendal and thirsty for pagan blood, really means it. For him, dying for the honor of France, Christianity, and his own good name is better than being alive.

Fighting 100,000 Saracens is nobody's cup of tea. Archbishop Turpin keeps up the Franks' spirits by reminding them that honorable death is the same thing as honorable eternity. If they die as martyrs now, they will attain the best of heaven forever while extending the sway of Christianity for earthly mortals.

This could be because he knows he's going to die anyway, but Roland is also on fire with his own valiant mission to fight for God and Charlemagne. Compared to these two authorities, his own mortality means nothing to him.

Okay, so this is why Roland likes fighting so much. We would too, if we had angel-armor. But the real message here is not that Roland is indestructible (spoiler alert: he dies); it's that he's invaluable. He is so pure and "worthy" (87.1093) that angels put off his death as long as possible, giving him supernatural fighting skillz and deflecting spears.

He is precious to both Charlemagne and God. Plus, he ultimately dies not from any battle wound but from blowing his brains out on the oliphant. He voluntarily suffers death in order to secure revenge for his men.

Ew. Despite the promise of heavenly immortality, death when it comes is pretty dang disgusting. The poet does not skimp on the gory details: the knights are sliced in half, their brains boil out, they faint off their horses.

Plus, the main characters all take a really long time to die. They're like opera singers who are stabbed or dying of tuberculosis but still have time to sing a 20-minute aria with three high Cs. Roland, for instance, feels death is near in stanza 168 but doesn't actually give it up until stanza 176. He, Oliver, and Turpin are all hyper-aware of their own deaths approaching but still possess enough strength to kill, give speeches, and attempt to break swords.

In his final prayer, Roland mentions two miracles when God triumphed over death: Lazarus, who died but came back to life, and Daniel, who should have been lion dinner but survived when angels muzzled the beasts. Roland's not asking to be saved from death or even to be revived once he's died. Instead, he's referring to the metaphorical meaning of these stories, which prefigure the miracle of Christ's death and resurrection. But Christ wasn't resurrected back into Jerusalem life; he was given eternal life in heaven. Roland is asking the same thing: immortality with God.

And presto! Roland's prayer is answered in the very same stanza. While his body remains on the blood-soaked field, his soul is conducted to paradise by angel attendants

It makes you feel sorry for the Emir. Not only does God halt Baligant's sword from cleaving Charlemagne's brain; he also sends Gabriel to give a pep-talk. Like Roland, Charlemagne is too dear to God to die. But since he is more likely to give in to pain and sorrow than the ever-fierce Roland, Charlemagne requires a little more angelic cheerleading.